Chakwera speaks out on rampant corruption in Malawi

My fellow Malawians: I address you tonight with neither rancor nor bitterness, but with only one purpose, to re-assure you that it is possible to have a Better and Prosperous Malawi with the reformed Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

The great Italian poet – Dante once said, ‘the hottest places in hell must be reserved for those who, in times of great moral crises, maintain their neutrality’.

At present, our poor but potentially rich nation is under siege. Fiscal morality is disintegrating at a worrisome rate, going by what we are hearing from news on radios and reading in the papers today.

While we understand that real guilt can only be legally established in court, we should all remember that there can be no smoke without fire.

According to reports, now validated by donor concerns, there is a syndicate driven by greed that is set on self-enrichment at any cost. They will stop at nothing and even our senior civil servants are not safe as they amass ill-gotten wealth at the cost of impoverishing everyone.

Chakwera

Just in line with Dante’s statement above, we in the MCP cannot sit and do nothing while our country is bleeding. We fought for this nation and will continue to do so at any place and time.

We, therefore, join the many well-meaning Malawians and the development partners to urge the government, as a matter of urgency, to:

Lift the lid of silence and respond to the allegations flying in the media,

Give space to professionals – local or those provided by the development partners, to get the root of this malaise, and

Bring all the culprits to book.

As far as the MCP is concerned, this culture of impunity is surmountable. We have drawn up a multi-faceted approach to preventing, detecting and dealing with corruption.

We have the requisite determination and will to eradicate impunity and when we get into government in May 2014; excellence towards good governance with the participation of all will be our mantra. Appointments will be based on merit and not on political inclinations nor family ties.

We will reinforce the governance watchdogs, empowered with the requisite enabling policy and legislation and ensure that they are not only independent, but are seen to be independent. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) will be fully divorced from executive interference by among other things, ensuring that the ACB director’s position is not an appointed one. (We will explain this in detail later)

It is against this background that I continue to urge all of you wherever applicable:

Go and register for next year’s elections;

Be an agent of change and voluntarily campaign for MCP wherever you live; and

In May 2014, Vote for MCP councilors, MPs and President.

With the re-born MCP, we can bring back hope and transform Malawi from the current‘winner takes all’ to ‘prosperity for all’.

Sustainable development and change in Malawi is possible but with one condition: you can no longer be mere spectators; you must be actively engaged and involved. So get involved now and together let us change Malawi.